EDITORIAL - Slight improvement

It may be deemed insignificant in statistical terms, but an improvement of 0.2 percent is still a positive sign in the battle against corruption. That’s the increase in the country’s score in the latest Corruption Perception Index, which is drawn up annually by Transparency International.

In terms of ranking, the Philippines appeared to fare better than in the scoring, rising several notches to 129th place out of 183, from 134th out of 170 countries surveyed in the previous year. But TI explained that the two surveys could not be compared because methodologies and the number of countries in the two surveys were different.

The latest survey was conducted between December 2009 and September this year, covering the final months of the Arroyo administration and the first 15 months of the new one, and there’s no way to accurately attribute credit for the slight improvement in the country’s score. But an official of TI said that going by the longer period covered in the Aquino administration, it could be given credit for the improvement.

As President Aquino himself often points out, however, there are many hurdles in the effort to bring transparency and honesty in governance. People are set in their ways and often benefit from systems that encourage bribery and other corrupt practices. Those systems are so deeply entrenched that the problem has been described as a culture of corruption.

That culture cannot be eradicated in six years, but it is possible to lay the groundwork for long-term reforms within that period. Simply catching the big fish, rendering justice and giving them appropriate punishment will go a long way in making people think twice before offering or accepting a bribe or demanding a fat commission for a government contract. Cutting red tape and promoting transparency in systems and processes in the delivery of public services can also plug opportunities for both petty graft and large-scale corruption.

Several studies have shown that in the past years, billions of pesos that could have gone to poverty alleviation and general development efforts have been lost to corruption. There can be no letup in the campaign to eradicate this scourge.